NEW YORK -- Amazon today unveiled a new version of its popular Kindle e-book reader, sporting enhancements like an enlarged screen designed for reading standard 8.5-by-11-inch documents, textbooks and newspapers.

The new Kindle DX, introduced here at Pace University by Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos, is aimed at broadening the appeal of the company's Kindle e-book reader.

While the Kindle has already proven a hit with a six-inch screen -- more than 275,000 book titles are now available for the device, Bezos said -- he added that the Kindle's design has excluded it from some kinds of use.

Office documents, for one thing.

"Most of the documents that we print and read are 8.5 by 11 [inches] -- the information on those documents is structured to be read at 8.5 by 11. There are complex layouts," he said. "It's not only personal documents ... it's any highly structured document. There are many kinds of books that have really complex layouts."

The device's expanded display also makes it appealing for books that rely on large, complex graphics, tables and other layout elements that are difficult to translate to a smaller screen, Bezos said.

"With the Kindle DX ... you never have to pan, never have to zoom, never have to scroll," he said, during a demonstration in which the device displayed pages from a wide range of books, including cookbooks and scientific textbooks. "You just read the documents."

Several other enhancements are also designed to improve reading of textbooks and newspapers. The Kindle DX now includes a widescreen mode: Turn the device to the side, and the screen rotates -- similarly to the widescreen mode common on devices like the Apple iPhone. The unit also includes native support for PDF files.

The Kindle DX is slated to begin shipping in summer with a $489 price tag, Bezos said. Amazon is also now accepting pre-orders for the unit.

Heated competition

The introduction -- rumors of which had been circulating for some time -- marks the second major shift in the Kindle product lineup this year. In February, Amazon unveiled the Kindle 2, an update of the original device with a slimmer profile and more advanced reading display.

Both the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX launches come amid growing competition in the e-book space, which has seen Google partner with Sony to provide the electronics giant's e-reader with access to Google's library of scanned public-domain titles.

It's also no wonder why so many parties are now vying for a portion of the e-book market. While Amazon is tight-lipped about how much money it makes from the Kindle, industry observers estimated earlier this year that Amazon could rake in $1.2 billion from sales related to its e-reader during 2010.

Newspapers and textbooks

To give the Kindle's latest addition a head start out of the gate, Amazon has also been busily lining up content partners for the new device. Bezos announced partnerships with three of the largest textbook publishers -- Pearson, Cengage Learning and Wiley -- who together are responsible for about 60 percent of the college textbooks in use today.

Bezos also said that a number of U.S. universities had signed on as pilot partners to give the device a test-drive on campus. Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University, Reed College, and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia will begin offering the e-reader to incoming students. It's not yet clear who will be paying for the devices, however.

"We're going to get students with smaller backpacks, less load, smaller access," he said.

Newspapers, although they're available for the current-generation Kindle -- represent another field in which Kindle DX can make a difference, Bezos said.

"Newspapers have been an absolute bestseller on Kindle -- people love waking up in the morning to find that their New York Times, their Washington Post, their Wall Street Journal have been automagically delivered overnight."

He also announced pilot programs with two of the nation's largest newspapers publishers: the New York Times Company and Washington Post Company. As a result of those deals, the New York Times, the Times-owned Boston Globe and the Washington Post will be experimenting with new subscription models based around the device.

"They're going to offer Kindle DX for a reduced price in exchange for long-term commitments for subscriptions," Bezos said. He did not disclose further details of the effort.